I chose to study history because, besides not knowing where else to go, I had had inspiring history teachers. I studied general history and sociology, and I was particularly interested in Russia and the history of the Soviet Union.

I began my studies in the 1990s. It was a strange time. On the one hand, we felt pressure from the lingering effects of the recession and the uncertainty of employment. It seemed that no one could count on a pension anymore. Still, it was a hopeful time...

As a young student of history I could not have imagined myself as sometime being an Oscar nominee. Film has always interested me, but I got involved in it in a roundabout way.

I have always slogged away at things on my own. And that’s how it was when I was studying history. It’s only through work that I have learned how wonderful it is to have my own ‘band’, or a group of people working towards the same goal.

Kirsikka Saari’s 2014 script for Pitääkö mun kaikki hoitaa (‘Do I have to take care of everything?’) was the first Finnish short to be nominated for an Oscar. The official trailer for this comedy shows the chaos that reigns when the mother of a young family decides that everything is…